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The paper presents a brief overview of the ITER Divertor Test Facility (IDTF) located at the Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus, St. Petersburg, Russia; it describes the high heat flux tests of the plasma-facing ITER divertor components performed on the IDTF and explains the role of the divertor and the choice of tungsten as the divertor armor material. The IDTF is a unique test facility in Russia: all plasma-facing ITER divertor components pass the high heat flux tests there. The high heat flux tests consist in the thermal cycling load produced by the electron flow accelerated by the electron-beam system of the test facility and applied to the test objects placed in the IDTF vacuum chamber. The alternating cycles of heating and cooling of particular parts of the test object armor material result in its gradual wear. Further investigation of the defects occurring under the tests makes it possible to define the validity of the technology chosen for production of the plasma-facing components. In the ten years of operation (by the beginning of 2020), about 20 main test campaigns have been performed of small-scale mock-ups and full-scale prototypes of the plasma-facing ITER divertor components. Serial tests of the divertor elements to be performed within the framework of the ITER project should be the next important step of the test facility operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During casting of steel, especially alloyed and high-carbon steel, in billet and bloom CCMs, segregation, shrinkage, and crystallization macrostructural defects may appear, and they cannot be completely eliminated even with rational design and process parameters. Various methods of physical action on crystallizing continuously cast ingots can be used to improve the quality of billets and rolled products. One of the most technologically advanced methods is electromagnetic stirring (EMS) of the liquid phase of crystallizing billets. The industrial CCMs currently operating in Russia and designed for the production of high-quality billets are mainly equipped with foreign-made EMS systems. Having a number of advantages, such as efficiency and commonality, such stirrers also have some disadvantages, including undismountable housing (cannot be repaired locally) and the need for several cooling circuits and boiler-type demineralized cooling water. Currently, the VNIIMETMASH Holding Company (Moscow) is the main developer and supplier of electromagnetic stirring systems for CCMs in Russia. Implementing an import-substitution program, the VNIIMETMASH has developed and put into operation mold EMSs (M-EMS), strand EMSs (S-EMS), and final EMSs (F-EMS) in billet and bloom CCMs, including horizontal ones. The stator poles are cooled with mold water in M-EMSs and with water for the process equipment in S-EMSs and F-EMSs. The coils are wo++und with a submersible double-insulated wire. A methodology for creating and testing EMS systems for billet and bloom CCMs has been developed based on theoretical and experimental studies, physical modeling, and industrial tests of electromagnetic stirrers designed by the VNIIMETMASH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the genetic differentiation and phylogeny of the breeds and populations of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.), a test system based on multiplex PCR analysis of 16 highly polymorphic STR markers (Rt6, BMS1788, Rt30, Rt1, Rt9, FCB193, Rt7, BMS745, С143, Rt24, OheQ, С217, С32, NVHRT16, T40 and C276) was developed. Using this test system, 397 animals from 11 samples were studied. Four of these samples belonged to the wild forms of reindeer, while the rest of the samples represented the Nenets, Even, and Evenk breeds reared in different climatic zones of the Russian Federation. For 16 microsatellite loci, 204 alleles were identified, some of which could be considered breed-specific. It was demonstrated that more than 70% of the unique allele pool was concentrated in wild populations of reindeer. Statistical analysis of microsatellite data showed that the developed test system was an effective tool for identifying domesticated and wild forms of reindeer, testing the breed assignment, and determining the migration flows of a species over the vast territory of its distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromatographic analytical results can be affected by various factors associated with the chromatographic system. Requirements for system suitability testing (SST) are introduced to minimize the risk of such factors having a critical influence on the results. This review covers the chromatographic parameters for SST and their recommended values and categorizes them into five groups depending on the purpose for their introduction into the SS requirements. The type of method (isocratic or gradient) and purpose of the testing (determination of the main substance or impurity content, peak asymmetry, etc.) are considered. Some additional intralaboratory parameters for SST in serial analyses (routine testing) are studied. Arecommendation to introduce the condition N ≥ 0.9Nexp, where Nexp is the smallest experimental number of theoretical plates N at which the requirements for system sensitivity (S/N, signal/noise) is still fulfilled for testing before and during the method validation, is given for the first time for gradient methods of impurity determination. This condition is justified from a theoretical viewpoint. Attention is drawn to the expediency of robustness testing to refine the SST requirements. Information given in this review supplements significantly recommendations of the European Pharmacopoeia, US Pharmacopeia, and the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation for chromatographic SST. These recommendations are important for improving the reliability of chromatographic system suitability control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with different malignancies, but its role in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer remains inconclusive. Published studies demonstrated a wide variation (0–50%) in HPV prevalence in ovarian cancer. To evaluate the contribution of detection tests to controversial results in different populations, we determined the presence of HPV DNA in Russian ovarian cancer patients using 10 different PCR-based tests. Methods: Epithelial ovarian adenocarcinomas were tested with 5 general primer sets commonly used for HPV screening of cervical and ovarian cancer and 5 HPV type-specific primers. Results: The use of a single PCR primer set resulted in a wide variation (0–29%) and an underestimation of the incidence of HPV-positive cancers. The combination of MY09/MY11 and GP5+/6+ primers in nested PCR revealed HPV DNA in 53% (18/34) of adenocarcinomas. HPV16 was found in 94% of the HPV-positive cases. In 6/6 positive cases, the active status of HPV16 was demonstrated by RT-PCR detection of E6 and E7 oncogene mRNAs. Conclusion: These findings indicate the need to employ multiple PCR-based tests to detect all HPV-positive patients. The identification of viral DNA and oncogene transcripts in cancerous tissues indicate the possible role of HPV in ovarian carcinogenesis in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test rig for periodic tests of reducers is involved as an example to discuss specific features in building automatic test systems (ATS); the test rig is designed at ZAO NPP MIKS Engineering. A certain approach to ATS design based on adaptation of universal hardware-software solutions with respect to typical scientific research problems and comprehensive tests of new product samples is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]